Public Transport in City of Zurich

Background

The public transport network of Zurich is one of most efficient and reliable of the world. In addition to the railway stations, where SBB makes its services available to the public, Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) is responsible for local and regional transport in the city of Zurich. Alongside SBB, it is the largest provider of transport services in the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV). VBZ is responsible for tram and bus operations in the city of Zurich and thus offers people in the city and the surrounding regions a high-quality public transport service 365 days a year, at least 20 hours a day. In 2022, VBZ transported a total of 268.5 million passengers, which corresponds to around 581.6 million passenger-kilometres.

For our topic the accessibility is an important element regarding the public transportation in Zurich. Accessibility can be defined as the potential to get from one location (source location) to all other locations (destinations). Several factors play a significant role in accessibility such as public transport timetable, structural data (e.g., population, education and employment). The settlement structure, especially the distribution of population and jobs, which gives rise to spatially relevant activities and demand, is also crucial.

In contrast to accessibility, development is defined exclusively by the transport services available at a specific point (e.g., at a bus stop). The public transport quality classes, for example, are an important indicator of development by public transport, with three easy-to-define criteria forming the basis for calculation:

Research Questions

Relation to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015 more than 190 countries signed two important and promising agreements: the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris agreement on climate change. The Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 SDGs regarding several targets such as protecting ecosystems, pursuing sustainable cities and economies, energy, etc.

For this project we have to link transportation to the SDGs. The services and transport infrastructures in the context of economic and social benefits are well known. Transport infrastructure can be the deciding factor between being cut off from and being integrated with the global economy, as well as accessing social and economic opportunities. There is not a specific SDG in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development concerning transport. Transport is highlighted as a decisive enabler in achieving the 17 SDGs. For instance, making significant global advances in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (SDG 13) is unachievable without major efforts in the energy sector (SDG 7), with transport being one of the primary energy consumers. The accessibility is an important element for transportation. SDG target 9 is about the demand to improve quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure, and emphasizes on equitable access for all. SDG target 11 emphasizes the need of ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation systems. SDG target 3 addresses the health aspect and that is a major factor as it comes to the safety of transportation and also the accessibility especially for the people in need.

Maps

Findings

The 3D / 2D hexagon map reveal several key insights about the distribution of public transportation across Zurich, the accessibility, and the frequency of the transportation. The tallest hexagons are concentrated in the center, indicating a high density of public transportation services. Major daytime stations include Goldbrunnenplatz, Oerilikon, Waffenplatzstrasse, and Central. These main stations scattered from north to south of the city, showing a well-distribution network throughout the city. When the map is filtered to show only the tram stations, a clear pattern of tram lines emerges. The tram services are mostly centralized in the center of the city and radiate outwards. In contrast, the bus map shows that the bus stations with the highest frequencies are located more towards the edges of the city. This show that Zurich is a city with well organized public transportation system, with trams covering the city center and buses reaching all the outer areas. Zurich transportation system is also notable for its services of night buses. The maps of night transportation show that the most easily accessible bus stations at night are mostly around the train stations. This likely reflects an intention to connect train and bus services.

The frequencies of different transportation mode are well illustrated in the interactive maps. On average, trams in the city have eight trips per hour at each stop, indicating a tram service every 7.5 minutes, except for tram lines 12 and 15, which have only four trips per hour. Train services in the city run about once to twice per hour during the daytime and about once per hour at night. Notably, the S10 and S4 lines have very frequent services, with six trips per hour. Daytime bus services range from two to eight trips per hour, depending on the service area of each bus line. Night-time buses are about half as frequent, with one to four trips per hour, and the number of night bus lines is also about half of the daytime bus lines.

Overall, our map of public transportation accessibility provides a clear view of current transport system of the City of Zurich. It offers informative and engaging interactive experience. Our findings from the maps answer our research question, where it is relatively convenient to access public transport throughout the City of Zurich using different transportation methods. The stations are well spatially distributed, with complementarity coverage by buses and trams.

Data & Method

Data:

• ZVV Timetable, Static GTFS (Retrived from Open Data Zürich)
• ZVV station data (Retrived from GIS-Browser of Zürich)

Equation for station frequency of daytime public transportation

Equation for station frequency of night public transportation

W: weight
Freq: frequency

Sources

Reference:
Vandycke, N., Viegas, J.M. (2022). From Sustainable Development Goals to Sustainable Mobility. In: Sustainable Mobility in a Fast-Changing World. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08961-9_3
Sources:
1. Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ). https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/vbz/de/index/die_vbz.html
2. Reiseinformationen, Zürich, Schweiz. Mit den öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln in Zürich unterwegs. Die folgenden Informationen zu Tram, Bus, Zug, Fahrkarten und Zonenplänen bringen Gäste sicher und klimafreundlich an ihr Ziel. https://www.zuerich.com/de/besuchen/unterwegs-in-zuerich/oeffentliches-verkehrsnetz-in-zuerich
3. Kanton Zurich. Verkehrsangebot. https://www.zh.ch/de/mobilitaet/gesamtverkehrsplanung/verkehrsgrundlagen/verkehrsangebot.html>
4. Kanton Zurich. https://www.zh.ch/content/dam/zhweb/bilder-dokumente/organisation/volkswirtschaftsdirektion/afv/publikationen-afv/KTZH_AFV_Broschuere_OeV-Gueteklassen_2_1_2020_08_25.pdf